


Once More

by Brill (HalfLight)



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Kiss, Last Kiss, Mercy Killing, Multi, Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2018-12-15 02:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11796822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalfLight/pseuds/Brill
Summary: Goku gets to see Vegeta one last time, long enough to plead that the prince fulfill his final request.





	1. side a: goku

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Untitled](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/316005) by RedViolett. 



> Originally posted on Tumblr, and inspired by some of RedViolett's artwork. The two pictures can be [here](http://redviolett.tumblr.com/post/149937157287/just-imagine-the-thought-black-is-hopefully-the) and [here](http://redviolett.tumblr.com/post/160505265002/thank-you-for-fulfilling-my-last-wish-my-first).
> 
> Please note that I am playing FAST AND LOOSEwith canon, especially in regards to how the wishes work. I have tried to make it ambiguous in that respect.

__ Kill him.  
  
__ (no)

A familiar voice whispers in the back of his head.  Goku tightens his grip around warm flesh. A pulse flutters against his fingers, straining for air.

_ KILL HIM. _

_ (stop) _

“Ghhk...K..Kak...a - ”

_ Do it! _

_ (Stop it!) _

_ Kill him kILl hIM KiLL hiM KILL HIM  KILL _

_ (VEGETA) _

The name bounces through his skull, a faint echo that allows Goku to break through Zamasu’s consciousness with a shudder.  He starts back, pulling his hand away like it’s been bitten.  A name escapes his numb lips in a faint whisper.

His senses come rushing back, so fast that Goku can only sit there, paralyzed.  There’s blood and smoke in the air; the heat of a nearby fire presses against his skin. The landscape is made of dilapidated, leaning buildings and piles of debris. In the distance, three energies spike together through the air in a fierce battle. 

Zamasu’s energy, someone else’s, and his own.

But he’s here.  Zamasu’s in his head.  What’s going on over  _ there _ ?

A hoarse grunt jerks him from his thoughts. He watches Vegeta sit up and draw hacking lungfuls of air, his fingers rubbing the tender skin of his neck.

It’s only when Vegeta starts back and thrusts his arm forward, a handful of kii gathered in his palm, that Goku can move and speak. 

And his face almost splits with a smile. 

“VEGETA!”

 Joy floods Goku’s blood and tingles in his fingertips as he surges forward, crushing Vegeta against him. His fingers curl against tense shoulder blades; Vegeta sputters against his neck, then growls as he extinguishes his ki.  He ignores Vegeta’s attempts to push him away, because he’s warm and breathing and _real_ in his arms.

Goku sits back, beaming at Vegeta’s face, to get a better look.  His smile fades when he notices Vegeta’s confusion at his behavior.

Something’s wrong about this.

“Kakarott…”

Vegeta’s not supposed to be here.  Not now.

“Your  _ ki _ , it’s...normal now.  How...”

He never even got to see Vegeta again after the androids -

The memories slam into the back of his skull hard enough to hurt.

_ (His heart disease. The Otherworld.  His friends and family leaving the world, one by one. _

_ Being pulled from the Otherworld by from a wish to the Dragon -  _ some  _ dragon, anyway - and seeing Zamasu standing before him with gleaming eyes and a sinister smile.  Splitting pain through his skull before it all went black. _

_ Bits and pieces, after that.  Planets turning to dust.  Cities laid to waste. _

_T he Otherworld, burning, his own laughter crueler than the crackle of flames.)_

“Ngh - !”

His head throbs, as though his skull is a vice squeezing his brain.  The edges of his vision start to turn black again, and Zamasu’s laughter rattles through his bones.  

Something sours in his gut as, for just a moment, his hands are stained with blood.

“Kakarott?  What - ”

Goku reaches out and grabs one of Vegeta’s hands.  He can’t tell who’s trembling as he brings Vegeta’s hand up, palm flat, to rest over his heart.

“Kill me,” he grits out, as it becomes hard to breathe, as something squeezes his chest.  “P-please - ”

“ _ What? _ ”  Vegeta snatches his hand away, snarling.  “Kakarott, you can’t be - ”

“Th - there’s nothing - left,” Goku says, forcing himself to meet Vegeta’s eyes.  There’s a pulse beating thickly in his temples.  Tears sting the corners of his eyes.  He can hear Zamasu’s laughter now, just as much as he can feel it.  “He...made me...kill it.  All of...it.”

This Vegeta’s eyes aren’t  _ his _ Vegeta’s eyes.  Goku has to remind himself of that, to stop from getting lost in the emotions that flicker through them.

He tells himself he’s imagining the things he sees.

“Please,” Goku breathes again, pressing Vegeta.  “I want you to...while I’m still - ” something squeezes his throat, and he chokes - “me.” 

He pleads with his eyes, afraid afraid that what will come out of his mouth next will be Zamasu.   _ Please _ , he begs,  _ please.  I want  _ you  _ to do this. _

He watches Vegeta’s uncertainty solidify into determination, and Goku’s mouth breaks into a soft smile as he feels Vegeta’s ki pooling in his palm again.

He only interrupts to reach up and cup Vegeta’s cheek, brushing the side of his mouth with a gentle thumb.  Vegeta starts, his attack stuttering to a halt, anger in every line of his face.

Goku wonders what kind of expression he must be wearing when that anger melts into something softer.  A chuckle escapes Goku’s tight throat, his smile soft on his face.

_ I’m so glad I got to see you once more,  _ he thinks, and squeezes his eyes shut.

He never opens them again.  Not even when Vegeta growls, the sound watery and distressed.  Not even when a scowling mouth presses against his own.

Not even when the laser point-thin beam of ki finally pierces his skin, and goes right through his heart.

He falls into strong arms. Their warmth blankets Goku as he breathes his last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No "Shot Through The Heart" jokes, folks, this is a serious moment. :|
> 
> ...This actually did help me hash out a little further an idea that I've had in the making for several years. I may end up writing it yet.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to seeing you in the sequel, "Vegeta Goes To Therapy For His Severe Psychological Scarring."


	2. side b: vegeta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vegeta sees the last moments of Goku Black, now nothing more than a broken man begging for the mercy of death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intend for this to become a two-shot, but this wouldn't leave me alone.
> 
> ~~it's also very melodramatic sorry not sorry~~

Fingers tighten around his throat, squeezing so hard that Vegeta fears they’ll tear right through his skin and crush bone, muscle, cartilage. He opens his mouth, lungs spasming, as his world starts to narrow, flicker, and fade.

There’s a leering face above him. Smiling - no, it’s all wrong. This is _Kakarott,_  he’s never smiled like _that_  while squeezing the life out of someone. 

“Gghh...khh…”

It’s the most Vegeta can manage as consciousness fails him.  All he sees is the flash of Kakarott’s white teeth and firelight reflecting in dark eyes. He reaches for it, gloved hand grazes Kakarott’s cheek.

“K-Kakkh--ah--”

There’s a flicker in those eyes, something warmer than the sharp fire crackling around them.  The fingers around Vegeta’s throat tremble, loosen -

“Vegeta.”

 - and release.

His lungs spasm, fighting to take in oxygen as he sputters and coughs.  His fingers go to his throat, the tips following the grooves that iron grip left there. In the distance, he senses Zamasu’s ki crashing up against his timeline’s Kakarott.  

_Kakarott -_

Vegeta comes back to himself with an ugly snarl, ki welling in his palm. He aims it right at the dark-clad figure under Zamasu’s thrall, Kakarot’s energy blighted and braided with the Kai’s own. He has the gall to just _sit_ there, blinking dumbly at him, like - 

_Like he’s not -_

Kakarott’s face splits into a brilliant smile a second before Vegeta realizes what he’s witnessing.

“VEGETA! ”

Kakarott surges forward, heedless of the ki Vegeta has aimed right at his heart. Vegeta sputters, startled, losing focus as Kakarott crushes their bodies together. He can’t breathe; Kakarott’s fingers curl tenderly against his shoulder blades, his breath tickling Vegeta’s neck right where his pulse beats strong. 

Vegeta’s eyes widen when Kakarott’s energy surrounds him again. It’s sunlight-strong, blazing bright and warm against Vegeta’s senses. “Kakarott?” he breathes, soft enough that he thinks only he can hear it. 

For a moment, this energy feels like _his_ Kakarott’s.

This timeline’s Kakarott leans back, his hands on Vegeta’s shoulders. There’s no malice in his eyes or in his smile, just something so pure and concentrated and aimed at _him_ that Vegeta struggles to keep looking him in the eye.  He doesn’t understand.

“Kakarott, your ki…”

Kakarott’s smile wavers and starts to falter.

“It’s...normal now. How -”

Vegeta feels the sinister taint in Kakarott’s ki flare, pulsing and twisting. Kakarott cries out, clutching his head as his face contorts in agony.  Vegeta finds himself reaching out, clutching Kakarott’s arm as though he can anchor him.

“Kakarott?  What - ”

_What do you expect me to do? Sit here and watch helplessly as you slip away again?_

Kakarott’s hand snaps out, as if in answer, and grabs Vegeta’s own. His tight grip trembles against Vegeta’s gloves as he lifts that hand and presses it to his chest.

Right above his heart.

“Kill me. P-please -”

“ _What_?” Vegeta doesn’t even have the presence of mind to be confused at the indignant anger flooding his body as he jerks his hand back. “Kakarot, you can’t be - ”

A pathetic sob cuts him off.

“Th - there’s nothing - left.” Kakarott’s eyes meet his own; tears shimmer in the corners of them. “He...made me...kill them.  All of them." 

Vegeta’s mouth opens, but the scathing retort on the tip of his tongue withers when he sees Kakarott; his mouth’s pulls down in a frown, his body slumping forward in exhaustion. If Vegeta stares too long into his tear-filled eyes he swears he can see every single body in every single universe that Kakarott mangled and broke beneath his hands, hears their final screams and pleas before Zamasu ordered Kakarott to end their lives.

If he strains his ears he swears he can hear their screaming souls, woven into the fabric of what remains of this world, unable to find solace in heaven or judgment in hell. 

Vegeta thinks of Kakarott - kind, sickeningly sweet, too-merciful Kakarott - laughing as he committed those atrocities, and at once feels nausea and fury well up in his belly. 

“Please, Vegeta.” Kakarott’s words are a raw whisper as he tries to reach out for Vegeta’s hand again. “I want you to - while I’m still - ” he chokes, as though the same fingers that tried to strangle Vegeta are fastened around his own neck now, “ - me.” 

Kakarott smiles, sad and pitiful and broken, a shell of his former self. The taint in his ki grows with each beat of that heart that deserved none of this. Begging Vegeta - and Vegeta alone - to end this while he’s still himself. 

Vegeta feels something inside of him give. He doesn’t even feel himself nod as he slides one of his gloves off, ki pooling in his palm once again.

He starts when a filthy hand cups his cheek, a thumb brushing against the corner of his mouth. His face contorts, and he snaps back to himself, thinking he’s lost Kakarott and is instead looking at the weapon Zamasu forged to destroy entire worlds.

But it’s only Kakarott - _Goku_ \- staring at him, tears streaming down his face. He smiles at Vegeta like he’s the only thing in the world just before his eyes slide shut, his face entirely at peace.

Like everything he’s ever wanted is right here, a perfect note to end everything on.

 _You -_  

 _How_ dare _you make me do this while you look at me like - like I’m -_

_Kakarott -_

Vegeta growls, leaning forward and crushing his mouth against Kakarott’s as the ki in his hand contracts and pulses.

He doesn’t pull away even when the laser-thin beam pierces Kakarott’s chest between his ribs, going right through his heart. 

Everything’s still for a moment before Kakarott slumps forward, limp and lifeless, into Vegeta’s waiting arms. Vegeta can’t even feel the lingering warmth of Kakarott’s body heat, numb as he cradles Kakarott’s lifeless body in his arms.

In the distance, he can just feel Zamasu’s energy overpowering his timeline’s Kakarott. 

 _How dare he,_ Vegeta thinks, beginning to tremble as sweat pours down his cheeks, stinging eyes squeezing shut as his throat tightens. _He thinks he can take Kakarott- again - ?_

Vegeta hears his rage boiling in his ears, his ki pressing against his skin, molten hot and thirsting for blood.

He screams as it bursts out of his pores, and loses himself to the godly ki inside of him swearing divine retribution.

**Author's Note:**

> No "Shot Through The Heart" jokes, folks, this is a serious moment. :|
> 
> ...This actually did help me hash out a little further an idea that I've had in the making for several years. I may end up writing it yet.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to seeing you in the sequel, "Vegeta Goes To Therapy For His Severe Psychological Scarring."


End file.
